By Journal Staff
The Revere Board of Health held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, May 22, in the City Council Chambers. On hand for the session were Chair Dr. Drew Bunker and fellow board members Kathleen Savage and Viviana Catano, as well as Director of Public Health Lauren Buck, Health Agent/Director of Inspectional Services Dept. (ISD) Michael Wells, and Bd. of Health Clerk Paula Sepulveda.
Buck presented the Communicable Disease monthly report for the month of May. “Our disease burden in May was low,” said Buck, who reported that there were 16 confirmed cases of influenza, 15 cases of COVID, and one case of measles (which was a close contact case from an international flight).
Buck noted that CDC statistics revealed what she termed a “remarkable decrease” of 28% in drug overdose deaths in 2024 compared to 2023.
However, she cautioned that overdose deaths still remain a leading cause of deaths for Americans ages 18-44.
Wells presented the ISD report for April. Wells said that ISD issued 96 certificates of fitness for housing units; performed eight reinspections; investigated six interior complaints with one in progress; performed one interior complaint reinspection; issued 12 new licenses for pool/spa inspections; and conducted five pool/spa reinspections.
In the food department, ISD performed 34 routine food inspections, five reinspections, five complaint inspections, and two temporary food inspections.
In the exterior sanitation division, ISD agents issued five citations for accumulation of trash, litter or debris; one for a commercial vehicle in a residential neighborhood; 52 for overflowing dumpsters; 328 for improper placement of trash and bulky items; 10 for improper storage of garbage or trash; one for improper signage on public property; 13 for junk heaps, dumps, and automobile graveyards; one for storage of multiple unregistered vehicles on residential property; three for rodent harborage; 101 for unclean or unsanitary land (which includes overgrowth and vegetation); three for unpermitted dumpsters and compactors; one for an unsafe structure; and one for working without a permit.
The board heard a presentation from Bonny Carroll, who is the Director of the 6-City Tobacco Initiative of which Revere is a member.
Carroll said that so far this year, 23 tobacco compliance checks (in which youths attempt to purchase tobacco products at local businesses) have been performed across the city and all of the businesses passed.
Carroll then made a presentation to the board of the emerging new products known as nicotine pouches (of which the most-popular brand is ZYN), which contain nicotine salts, not tobacco. She noted that while a package of Marlboro cigarettes contains a total of 127 milligrams of nicotine, one of the new nicotine pouches contains eight milligrams of nicotine. With 20 pouches per container, that means there are160 milligrams of nicotine in each container. At a cost of $5.00 per container, this means that consumers are getting 25% more nicotine at a fraction of the price of a pack of cigarettes.
Carroll noted that there is a similar product that sells for $1.99. “These products are flooding the shelves of convenience stores,” she said. “We see cases and cases of these things on store shelves and the retailers tell us that the demand is so high that they can’t keep up with them.
“The addictive nature of these products is very concerning,” continued Carroll. “The young people who are using them get addicted very easily because of the high concentration of nicotine in them.”
She noted that pro athletes make small cuts between their toes where they place the pouches in order to get the nicotine into their blood systems quickly.
Carroll added that a person has to be over the age of 21 to purchase these products.
Carroll next discussed a new type of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) known on the street as a “cave.”
“Essentially, it’s a vape, which is what most people call it,” Carroll said. She also noted that these products often are flavored.
“Our goal is to ensure that young people do not have access to these products because if we can keep them from getting addicted to these products before their brains are fully-developed, we can be much more-successful in keeping them from developing a lifelong addiction,” Carroll said.
She noted that the human brain continues to develop through the age of 26. “So even at the age of 21 (the legal age for purchasing tobacco and nicotine products), we’re still a little behind, but we have to do our best to keep these out of their hands,” Carroll added.
Carroll then handed the board a variety of the new vaping products that appear to be designed to appeal to children.
“They look like they’re geared to kids, not adults,” said Savage, with Catano noting that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and other harmful substances. Bunker added that nicotine has been shown to have harmful effects on the human body, including the cardiovascular system and fertility.
“It seems we’re always 10 steps behind the industry,” concluded Carroll, noting that Juuls a few years ago previously had been the big problem, but now the industry has created a slew of new products.
The board then conducted a review, and granted approval, of the updated North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative Intermunicipal Agreement of which Revere is a partner with Winthrop and Chelsea. Buck presented the document for the board’s consideration. After Buck highlighted the important parts of the document, the board voted to accept it, with Bunker signing on behalf of the board as its chair.
In its final piece of business for the evening, the board voted to ratify the decisions of the ISD and the city to remove from condemnation the residences at 71 Pitcairn Street and 56 Ambrose Street in view of the corrective actions taken by the owners of those premises to comply with the city’s health and building department regulations.
Wells recapped for the board the history of the issues that had arisen with those properties, both of which have been sold to new owners, and noted that the problems have been addressed to bring the properties into a habitable condition.
“They no longer are a blight on the neighborhoods,” added Wells. “These were tough decisions to make at the time, but they were necessary decisions, and it’s nice to see that things have worked out.”
